Silent Hill: Scribe's Vice
by EleventhHourEdge
Summary: Emma has had nightmares about Silent Hill for a year. So when she gets a mysterious phone call, she thinks she's prepared. But the deeper she delves into the town, the more entangled she becomes with what remains of the Order. Even if she does survive the onslaught of creatures the town sends her way, will she still be the same person when she comes out? Some chapters may be M
1. Introduction

This will be a novelization of the nightmares I've been having about Silent Hill. It won't be exact. There are parts I won't tell, parts I'll change so they make more sense, and parts I've changed so they don't seem so jarring.

I'll admit that there's a fair bit of cult business in this, so if you're not fond of their involvement, you're best giving this one a miss. Also, there's some similarities here and there between this and other Silent Hill installments, but I think it's still enough to stand by itself.

I'll first be posting the prologue, which will be split into two or three parts. After that, I'll probably end up following a pattern of chapters (first a chapter about the journey between where I am currently and the next area, then a chapter about the area itself, then the same pattern repeating). I figured this was the best way to organize it.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the strange story of Silent Hill I have to share with you.


	2. Prologue - Part 1

Prologue – Restless Dreams

The nightmares of that cursed town began a year before I set foot in the place. As the fog rolled by, I could feel something in the air, something that wasn't quite right. There was an eerie quiet which, coupled with the clear desertion of the place, sent chills through my core. Shops were abandoned, houses were empty, and there wasn't even so much as a distant car or barking dog. There was only the fog for company.

I spent a while attempting to find some company, but it seemed every building that wasn't boarded up was still cold and empty. I don't remember how far I walked, or even quite where I had started. I'm not even sure why I was so desperate to find company that I would keep marching onwards. I suppose some things in dreams can never be explained.

I stopped at a church. I thought perhaps I'd seen photographs of it some time ago, though I couldn't begin to tell you where or how. Either way, I assumed I'd seen some church similar to it in my childhood, hence my near instant recognition of it. As a fairly small woman, the church's stature made it quite imposing, so much that I hesitated. I didn't see a sign. I didn't know if this was the kind of church I'd be welcome in.

I would have reached out for the door, but the sound of voices halted my courage. They were muffled from here, perhaps coming from nearer the back of the church. Curiousity has always been a fatal flaw of mine, so it seemed only natural to sneak round the back to find a window or keyhole to continue my eavesdropping.

The stained glass gave the scene an ethereal quality as reds and blues shone down on the group of cloaked women. It was almost like watching some twisted play, except I'd arrived late and didn't know the rest of the plot. The strange group were huddled round an altar, hiding some great secret that rested atop it. Standing at the other side was a dark-haired woman, her eyes also dark and the kind that pierced the heart with a single stare. She spoke most frequently, so I assumed she was their leader.

"Our time will come soon, sisters." She began, the smile on her lips not quite fitting in with the rest of her cruel features, "The Order will reward you for your loyalty and your aide to me soon. I have been working hard to solve the problem that we've been having, namely that we have no vessel to birth our God. Potential mothers have come and slipped our grasp, so I have taken it upon myself to make one.

"Do not worry yourselves as to how I have done this. Simply watch, as the first of my potential candidates rises!" At this point, the woman gestured to the altar. A sheet slid to the floor and a woman sat upright, movements stiff as if she were barely awake. Her eyes snapped open to reveal pure white orbs, whiter than even her hair. She looked human, but the eyes and her stiff movements betrayed her as something altogether more frightening.

The women of this 'Order' they spoke of cheered and clapped, as if this was somehow something to celebrate. Perhaps it was, and I only wasn't cheering with them because I was outside peering in through the window. I'd felt like that a lot in my younger days. I was always the one peering in the window while everyone else celebrated things I didn't understand. I don't remember a lot else about my childhood…just that feeling.

Sadly, what I could only assume was dust began to tickle the tip of my nose. I tried to stifle the noise, did all I could to ensure that I was silent, but the violent sneeze threw me off balance and my head smacked off the glass. I couldn't feel any blood, but the noise had been loud. Loud enough to draw attention to the outsider observing their strange meeting.

I thought that if I walked away casually, I could make it look as if I'd been simply passing by, and be forgiven for my perceived crimes. However, the women were not fooled by this pretence and the dark-haired leader was quick to have me restrained. I did run, but…it's odd…I don't remember what happened after that. I started having a migraine as I took a quick glance back at the leader…but then, nothing. Just the blinding pain as if my head were about to split open, then just black. I know they must've caught me, but I couldn't say how far I ran or how they captured me. It's all a blurred haze.

I awoke in a hospital bed. It took me a moment to notice that the hospital was not as it should have been. The room was small and simple, with a bed and a cabinet to the side. This was normal enough, from what I knew about hospitals. What made the room seem unusual was the colour of the walls. They were an unpleasant red, like rust or dried blood, and iron grating barred the window. Even the bed sheets were stained the same red, as was the cabinet.

It's always fascinated me the things that can happen in dreams without you realizing they are dreams. When I dream, I tend to get so invested that I don't realize I'm dreaming, no matter what bizarre inconsistencies or strange twists happen. The eye that split the wall was one such occurrence.

It stared at me, and I stared back. It twitched and jerked, but kept its gaze ultimately fixed on me. This eye wasn't the eye of a person. It was too large for that, about 5 feet across and 3 feet tall, though I was never good at judging distance so it could've been more than that. It moved its gaze as I drew closer, attempting to study the thing. I reached out to touch its startlingly blue iris, but the way it stared warned me that this was a bad idea.

Seeing no further purpose to hanging around, I pulled the door open and peered out into the corridor. What little light there was came from dim, flickering bulbs that swung unsettlingly and cast an eerie glow to the place. The hallways seemed to stretch endlessly with identical doors, most of which were no longer numbered as the labels had decayed. The walls and doors were glistening with fresh red…what the red was, I didn't dare consider.

A figure stood at one end of the corridor. It was a spindly creature, its arms and legs barely even sticks, and its crooked teeth were gnarled and stained an unpleasant yellow. Bandages covered a majority of its skin, except for the tips of its jaundiced fingers and its…

…This is the difficult part. I knew when I got here I'd find it hard to write. Even now I'm stalling, trying to find the right words but struggling to summon the courage to write them. I suppose the best and least evasive way I can manage to imply the truth is to say that…well, it was certainly a male. I did my best to avoid staring, not breaking my gaze from it in case it decided to strike when my back was turned.

Dreams are a bizarre realm. The mind is like an author with a strict list of events, sacrificing logic and reason to get what it wants. As such, I can't tell you why I decided to follow a creature that intimidated me so much. It beckoned, and at a loss of anything else to do, I accepted the thing as my guide.

I felt half-dazed as I walked with the creature, ensuring I was at least a foot or two behind it. I couldn't have told you what the maze of corridors looked like, or where the creature led me to. I don't even remember how far or how long we walked for. I just remember that door. No numbers, no label, just a bright red sigil painted across it. I didn't recognise it, but it hurt my head trying to recall if I did.

The creature took advantage of my moment of weakness. It tackled me to the floor, tearing viciously at my back with its claw-like fingers. I tried to struggle, but it was deceptively heavy and I could do nothing but brave the pain. The scratches stung, and I closed my eyes in the hopes I might wake from this nightmare.

My eyes opened as the scratching stopped. The monster lay on top of me, stroking my face like some estranged lover. There was something more horrifying in its affection than in any violence it could do against me. It stayed awhile, clearly finding immense enjoyment in my entrapment, but it got up to free me eventually. I only just managed to wrench the door open and seal myself inside before it dived to trap me again.

The room I entered looked surprisingly normal compared to the rest of what I'd seen. It was a poky little hospital room, not unlike the one I started in. The walls, floor and sheets, while a little grubby, were in excellent condition compared to the mess of my starting point. I rummaged in the cabinet, finding a handgun. Considering that thing was still out there, I decided I'd need it, as well as the ammunition, med kit and bottle of what I assumed were sleeping pills.

I fell asleep in that room after taking a couple of pills, to find myself awake in my bed as if nothing had happened. Which, of course, it hadn't. I thought. And no, this isn't the part where I reveal I had scratches on my back or I had the gun with me. I had no weapon, and while my back did ache a little, there was no external injury. I forgot the dreams for a week or two, dismissing it as nothing.

I returned to those devilish dreams after about three weeks of peace. I knew it was the same place the moment I awoke there. It was the same room. The same small hospital room. I was holding the same gun. The same med kit lay at my feet, and the jar of pills sat patiently on the cabinet. I hoped the creature outside had grown bored and left to pursue other interests.


	3. Prologue - Part 2

Deciding I couldn't spend the rest of my time in this one room, I hazarded a look outside the window. The corridor looks normal. Completely devoid of people, granted, but the place looked normal and that was good enough for me. Collecting up whatever supplies I could carry in a bag I wasn't sure had always been there, I headed for the elevator, hoping it would be as simple as picking a floor and heading out of this crazy place.

You probably know that didn't happen. I wouldn't very well have started this chapter like this had I been able to just walk right out of there. The lift made it down a floor before the walls peeled away, revealing the rusted red beneath. The lift door broke away into a set of equally rusted bars. I stared out into the corridor. It was dark, with barely enough light to see two feet in front of me. What little I could see looked like the corridor from before.

The bars slid upwards, releasing me into the nightmare. I was hesitant to advance. I could hear something…something like faint radio static. The emergency intercom had been replaced with an old radio, probably broken by the racket it was making, and a note had been pinned above it.

"Watch out, little girl. The monsters are coming."

The note puzzled me for a moment, but as the static grew louder, I understood. I peered round the side of the door, only to see a monster slithering closer. The best way I can describe it is as a black mass of writhing tentacles, as wide as half the corridor and tall enough to touch the ceiling with where a head should've been. The closer it got, the more uncomfortable I felt. It didn't seem like it wanted to talk.

I pulled out the handgun I'd stuffed in my back pocket, shooting twice in the hopes it might go down. No such luck. The beast grabbed my shooting arm, pinning it to the back of the elevator and grabbing my legs with two more tentacles. It was strong, too strong to struggle free from, and as it began undoing my shorts I panicked.

I felt a weight in my back pocket. I pulled out a knife, a switchblade, and before I knew it I was slicing through the tentacle at my arm. I shot four more times and the creature roared. It fell down dead, leaking black blood. I pulled up my shorts and crouched in the corner for a moment. I felt nauseous. I felt nauseous even considering what it was trying to do.

I regained my composure after a few minutes of shameless crying. I figured the radio must have reacted to the monster, since it had been quiet ever since I killed it. The radio clipped perfectly into my belt loop, and didn't make a sound for at least a couple of corridors. Along the way, I tried to open a few doors, but the locks were all jammed or broken or something.

The radio sparked to life, crackling its warning. I peered round the corner, immediately noticing what it was warning me about. Three hulking beasts were patrolling their territory. Their hands scraped across the ground, knuckles dragging like gorillas. Their skin looked rough and yellow, like aged parchment, and thick smog concealed their faces. Trying not to envision what might be beneath the smog, I edged carefully across the wall, hoping not to draw their attention. I had a feeling a knife and a few bullets wouldn't be enough to take them down.

I picked a door at the corner and dived in, slamming the door behind me. I didn't want those creatures to have a chance at following me. I'd chosen an odd room. It was empty, rusted dark red, with a simple refrigerator lying dormant in the middle. It wasn't plugged in and appeared to be broken, but curiousity won out and I still had a look inside.

I was dreading what I'd find. Perhaps it would be a corpse, or a trap for unsuspecting adventurers, or a monster waiting to be set free. My hands wouldn't stop shaking as I reached out for the handle. The door was heavy. It took all my strength to wrench it open, which was enough to send me crashing to the floor with all the grace of a brick.

Once I realized there was no booby trap or monster attack, I dusted myself off and peered nervously into the fridge. Inside the fridge was a katana, polished and sharp compared to its filthy container. Puzzled about what it was doing in there, I picked it up and examined it carefully. This would make a good addition to my arsenal. It felt heavy, but light enough for me to wield without too much difficulty.

As soon as I heard the click of the lock, I realized the mistake I'd just made. I raced to the door, trying to tear it open but to no avail. I wrestled with the handle, desperate to leave in fear of what was next to come. Another of the huge eyes opened up on the wall, a devilish laughter accompanying it as if the eye itself were amused by my terror.

Two black tentacle creatures rose from the shadows. My attempts at escape grew more feverish, until I turned in acceptance of the fight ahead. Flight was not an option. I readied my newly acquired katana, but any hopes of using it were short-lived. The monsters grabbed a leg each, slamming me into the floor and swiftly pinning my arms above my head. The urge to scream with horror rose in my throat as the tentacles got to work undoing my shorts and flinging them carelessly to the side.

Pure fear gave me the strength to pull my arms free, snatching the katana and stabbing through one of the monstrosities. My sword sliced through the two fiends like butter. The fight was over in moments, as the two beasts lay bleeding black on the floor. There was an odd satisfaction in seeing my attackers dead at my own hands. That satisfaction was set aside as it dawned on me what my fate could have been.

It took me at least ten minutes to calm myself enough to leave the room and wipe the last of my tears away. I've always been emotionally weak, enough to cry significantly more than most people I knew. The fact I was alone in this hell only made it worse.

As I entered the hall, I noticed the world had returned to normal. Within ten seconds, a blonde woman, older than me but young in the grand scheme of things, dashed towards me and clung to my arm, sobbing and begging me to save her from the monsters. I paused a moment, took a deep breath, and asked the woman what her name was.

"Lisa." She smiled nervously, regaining some composure, "Lisa Smith. Sounds so boring, doesn't it?"

I was a little apprehensive of how this woman had instantly latched onto me, but she was the first real person I'd met. I was thankful not to be by myself anymore. She noticed the scratches on my back from earlier and offered to patch me up, which I agreed to. She led me to a hospital room and I sat on the bed while she disinfected the wounds and bandaged me up.

"You know, you shouldn't walk around like that." She said after a while.

"Like what?" I asked, puzzled.

"Y'know, like...like that. With the white vest and the tiny denim shorts. You'll just encourage the monsters." She tutted disapprovingly.

"Hey, whose side are you on?" I snapped, annoyed by this and somehow ignoring the significance of what she'd said, "They don't even see me anyway. They don't even have eyes."

"So what do they look like then?" She asked, clearly confused by what I'd said, "How do they know you're there if they don't see you?"

"They...they sense me. And then they feel me to see where everything is." I murmured, fidgeting uncomfortably as the floor became suddenly fascinating.

"I see...well, you'd better get some rest." Lisa stood and smiled, "That's you all patched up, but you need some sleep. Looks like you've been through something rough. I'm just going to go get some more medical supplies, I'll be back soon."

I watched her leave, and was almost frightened she wouldn't come back. I curled up on the bed, doing my best not to reflect too much in all I'd been through. Tearing a strip from the best, I polished the blood from my katana until my arms ached too much to continue. I set it down, my eyes drawn to the bottle of sleeping pills next to the bed. I downed a few, slipping into a comfortable sleep as I awoke to the familiarity of my bedroom.


	4. Prologue - Part 3

Once again, when I returned to my nightmare, the world was the red rusted hell. A strange symbol, an eye within a triangle within a circle, was scrawled on the door. I had the oddest feeling about that symbol. My head began pounding as I stared at it. I looked away, standing to peer through the glass of the door into the hallway.

The creatures patrolling the hallway looked more human than the other monsters. They would have seen like normal young girls, if it weren't for their pale skin, pitch-black eyes and stitched-up mouths. Bloody bandages were tied tight around their wrists. Their faces were framed with dark hair that hung to halfway down their backs.

The bandaged abomination from the beginning was with them. Occasionally it'd touch one of their faces like it had touched mine before, and they froze, almost like they were scared. I felt some connection to these poor creatures, obviously out of place amongst the terrors of this place. I thought it might be safe to approach them. I thought perhaps we could have some sort of kinship in our ordeals.

However, this was not to be. I set foot outside my safe room and heard their screams, even though they had no mouths they could scream with. The closest one lashed out at me with a scalpel, red tears welling up in its….no, her eyes. She was just as scared and lost as I was, but instinct told her to fight. I dodged a few slashes, putting off what I knew had to be done as long as possible. There were too many of them to simply run.

I ran her through with my katana, taking a deep breath as the life faded from her eyes. She twitched, and then grew limp as I pulled my sword from her. Wiping the blade with the torn bed sheet from before, I crouched beside my victim, gently closing her eyes. I hoped this was the last time I would have to murder these lost souls.

The bandaged creature's burning gaze sent the other girls fleeing. I was alone with it. Fear turned my legs to lead and mind to a screaming wreck. I could do nothing as it advanced, a predator with its prey locked in its sights. I made no swing with my katana. I made no movement to snatch the gun from my back pocket.

Its expression didn't change (I'm not certain it even could change expressions), but I sensed the smile it would have had as it tackled me to the floor. It paused there for a while, as if contemplating what to do with its mark. It tipped its head down, then up, then buried itself face first in my chest, relaxing its entire body. All attempts at screaming died in my throat.

I summoned what little strength and courage I could muster, wriggling a hand free to pull the handgun from underneath me. I shot it a few times, square in the face, but this seemed to do little other than annoy it. It scrambled to its feet as I pulled myself up to mine, and I ran once again from the wrapped horror. It took three doors before I found one that worked, caring little for what would greet me within.

Fortunately, nothing was there but the usual bed and bedside cabinet. It took me a moment of intent staring at the symbol on the back of the door to realize I had managed to circle back to my original starting point. A phone had been left on the pillow, waiting patiently for someone to collect it. It grew impatient and buzzed angrily as someone called it.

I answered, thinking it'd may have been the owner looking for it or a friend who was concerned, "H…Hello?"

"She's lying, you know." The voice was distinctly female, with an undertone of snide amusement.

"Who is this?" I frowned, a little apprehensive.

The voice laughed, as an adult laughs at a child who's said something funny, "I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise. By the way, try not to get caught by the Creep. He's very friendly."

Her last giggles cut out abruptly, as abruptly as the sharp knock on the door a few seconds after. I snapped out of my puzzled stupor, noticing that the walls were a more usual faded white instead of the nightmarish red of before. The symbol on the door was gone, and Rachel was standing in the doorway holding a couple of rolls of bandages.

A thought occurred to me, keeping the strange voice's warning in mind, "So, what exactly are you doing here?"

"Hm?" She frowned, handing me a roll, "I thought I told you. I'm a nurse here. I came into work today and nobody was here. I tried to find someone, but the place is a ghost town."

"And that's when you saw the monster, right?" I sighed, finding no joy in distrusting the only other person in this crazy place.

"Mon…sters?" She giggled, "Oh, that. I just heard some strange noises and panicked. I'm just worried because nobody seems to be here…not even the patients."

"But, but I saw them…the tentacles creatures and the bandaged thing…" I scrabbled at the phone I was holding, desperately trying to find the call history, "And that weird phone call I got…I'll call her, she can tell you-"

"Sweetie. There's no signal here." Rachel tugged the phone from my hand and pointed at the corner of the display, "See? There's never been any mobile signal in here."

All words and responses died in my throat. I'd heard the woman's voice. I was certain I had. The monsters, that bandaged thing, they had to be real. Rachel couldn't have just bypassed all the creatures, she couldn't have ignored the rusted red hell this place became sometimes. Her playful smile softened into a concerned frown as her eyes flickered to the bottle of pills beside the bed, "Are you ok? How many of those did you take?"

"As many as I needed." I caught on to her implications immediately and wasn't keen on them, "I read the label, they're just sleeping pills."

She snatched up the bottle, reading the label with unparalleled thoroughness. Satisfied, she smiled nervously, opening the door to leave again, "Well, if you're sure you're ok…the door to one of the main supply closets is jammed. I'll need some help opening it."

I followed her down the corridor, unable to get my head around what had just happened. I barely heard her questions, and mumbled replies I hoped would make more sense than they had any right to in the situation. It sounds preposterous to claim I was going mad within my own dream, but I couldn't help but doubt myself. There'd be no reason to lie. There was no reason she shouldn't have seen what I'd seen.

She pushed through a set of double doors, and I tried to follow. However, as I reached out to the door, red blossomed from my hand and spread across the door, spilling outwards until the entire corridor was transformed into the realm of nightmares. I pushed the door, but something was jamming it. I was truly alone now. My only ally was trapped on the other side of the door, while I was trapped in what seemed more and more like my own delusions.

There was no time to lament my problems. A gorilla creature had appeared behind me. I turned just in time to swipe at me with its fists. I dodged, less than gracefully, slicing at it with my new weapon. I cut through its arm as if it were made of paper. The arm floated gently to the floor, with no blood to accompany it, nothing but the arm was there. I sliced it three more times, until the monster lay as a tattered mess on the floor.

I took ten steps before I came across a message scrawled in blood on one of the doors. It said 'Give me my precious'. The blood looked fresh. I spent a while just staring, trying to comprehend its meaning and attempting to supress how creepy it was. One of the girls coaxed me out of my thought with a frightened shriek. I didn't want to hurt her. Or her friends.

Eventually, I ducked into a small storeroom to hide. A single light bulb flickered above, but it was better than standing outside waiting for more assailants. A couple of small brown bottles labelled 'Health drink' sat on one of the shelves. I put one of them in my bag, along with the roll of bandages I'd been holding all this time like a goon, and drank the other one. It was syrupy and sweet, with a hint of strawberry. I couldn't be sure of its actual medicinal properties, but I did feel a little better.

A doll on a lower shelf caught my eye. On its back was scrawled in a black substance 'Precious'. It didn't take long for me to remember the door's message and, with a lack of anything else to do, I returned to the door. When I got there, I knocked hesitantly and said, "Um, I think maybe you were looking for this doll I found…"

The silence that followed was almost unearthly. I didn't understand, until I looked properly at the message on the door. It had changed. Where before it had demanded Precious, it now read 'Don't want precious any more', which was difficult to interpret into what to do with the doll. In hindsight, it would've made more sense to just put it back where I left it and find another route out.

I can't tell you why I did was I did. I felt some compulsion from an unknown force, like a flash of twisted logic or sudden inspiring madness. I broke a leg off the doll. A woman screamed behind the door, but I kept breaking, until the doll was in pieces at my feet and some sticky black substance leaked out from under the door. The lock clicked. The door wasn't locked anymore.

I don't remember anything after that. I don't know what was behind that door. I'm sure I returned to the town in my dreams a few times more. How I know or what happened there, I can't say. It's all a blurry mess from there. All I can remember is unstitching the mouth of one of the girls, and her smile of gratitude. Her smile was beautiful.

I've since named all the monsters. I've named all of my monsters. I'll post lists between chapters, so that it's easier to keep track of them all. I apologize if my names are uninspired or otherwise not so good, but I named them as I went and calling them anything else would seem unnatural to me now. They're my monsters, so they're my names.


	5. Alchemilla Hospital monster list

Alchemilla Hospital monster list

Lust/the Creep – The bandaged monster that was "overly friendly" towards me.

Tanglers – the tentacle creatures

Strangers – the paper gorillas with their faces covered in smog

Mutes – the black-eyed girls with stitch-up mouths


End file.
